Three years after launch of i brand, 100,000 electrified BMWs on the road

Since its market launch in November 2013, BMW’s i brand, which has been the technological pioneer of the BMW Group and also symbolises the company’s innovative strength and future orientation, has achieved a new milestone.

The BMW Group has now delivered more than 100,000 purely electric-powered cars and plug-in hybrids to customers worldwide. The i3 alone has reached a figure of more than 60,000 units, making it the most successful electric vehicle in the premium compact segment. Meanwhile, the i8 ranks first among electrified sports cars, with more than 10,000 delivered since the middle of 2014. Additionally, there are the approximately 30,000 plug-in hybrids sold to date; known today under the label BMW iPerformance, these reflect the successful broad-based transfer of BMW i technology.

“BMW i remains our spearhead in terms of innovation and it will continue to open up groundbreaking technologies for the BMW Group,” says chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Harald Krüger. “When it comes to electric drivetrains, we’ve already successfully managed to put this technology transfer on the road. The next technological advance we will address is automated driving, where the BMW iNEXT will set a new benchmark.”

By establishing the BMW i brand and opting to develop a separate vehicle architecture and BMW eDrive technology for electric power, the BMW Group is driving individual, sustainable mobility. Both the BMW i3, designed for locally emissions-free mobility in an urban environment, and the future-oriented plug-in hybrid sports car BMW i8 are consistently geared towards sustainability, including the use of resource-efficient production methods and materials. This also appeals to new groups of customers: more than 80 percent of BMW i3 customers worldwide are new to BMW.

All in all, the BMW Group now offers seven models that either run on electric power alone, like the i3, or are plug-in hybrids, combining a combustion engine and an electric motor. Other models will follow in the years to come, including a Mini Countryman plug-in hybrid in 2017. A new variant of the i8 sports car with plug-in hybrid drive will come out in 2018 – an open-top i8 Roadster. The portfolio will be extended to include a purely electric-powered Mini in 2019 and a purely electric-powered X3 in 2020. At the start of the next decade, another larger BMW i model with electric drive is due to appear: the iNEXT which will be the new innovation leader and spearhead of BMW i.